Support Device

ABSTRACT

A support device includes a rail for carrying goods for display, a movable upright support plate coupled to the rail to support displayed goods on the rail, a spiral spring connected between the rail and the movable upright support plate to impart a pressure that moves the movable upright support plate toward the front end of the rail for so that displayed goods are automatically shifted to the front side when the first piece of displayed goods is taken away by a consumer, and a positioning device provided at the bottom side of the rail for positioning on a bearing board of a display rack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a support device for use in a display rack for holding displayed goods on a bearing board of the display rack and more particularly, to such a support device, which can be positively and easily positioned on a bearing board of a display rack and which automatically shifts the displayed goods forward when the first piece of displayed goods is taken away by a consumer.

2. Description of the Related Art

In order to expand the display area and the quantity of displayed goods and to facilitate selection of goods by consumers, a volume sales outlet, distribution center or convenient store usually uses display racks to display goods for sale. A display rack has bearing boards arranged at different elevations for holding goods for display. The use of a display rack with vertically spaced bearing boards not only expand the display area but facilitate management of displayed goods. Regular display racks for this purpose are commonly made of ferrite. The bearing boards of a display rack have a predetermined width and depth for supporting different goods.

When using a display rack to display goods, goods are arranged in lines on each bearing board. In order to keep displayed goods in line on each bearing board, partition members may be used and directly placed on each bearing board of a display rack to keep displayed goods in lines. FIG. 1 illustrates a partition member 1 for this purpose. A partition member 1 of this design has a narrow bottom side. When partition members 1 are placed on a bearing board of a display rack to keep displayed goods in lines, the partition members 1 tend to be forced out of place. Further, when a first piece of goods is taken away from a line of goods by a consumer, the rest pieces of goods of the same line will be shifted forwards automatically to fill up the vacancy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a support device, which can be positively and easily positioned on a bearing board of a display rack and which automatically shifts the displayed goods forward when the first piece of displayed goods is taken away by a consumer.

To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, a support device comprises a rail, at least one upright support plate, a spiral spring and at least one positioning device. The rail is adapted for carrying goods for display. The movable upright support plate is coupled to and movable along the rail to support displayed goods on the rail. The spiral spring is connected between the rail and the movable upright support plate to impart a pressure that moves the movable upright support plate toward the front end of the rail. The at least one positioning device is provided at the bottom side of the rail for positioning on a bearing board of a display rack.

After the support device is positioned on a bearing board of a display rack by the at least one positioning device, goods are supported on the rail and held in place by the at least one upright support plate. When the first piece of displayed goods is taken away by a consumer, the at least one movable upright support plate is automatically moved forwards by the spring fore of t spiral spring to shift the rest goods to the front side for service.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a conventional partition member for use in a display rack.

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of a support device in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a support device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an applied view of the present invention, showing the support device of the second embodiment installed in a display rack's non-metal bearing board.

FIG. 5 is another applied view of the present invention, showing the support device of the first embodiment installed in a display rack's ferrite bearing board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 2, a support device 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising: a rail 11, at least one movable upright support plate 12, a spiral spring 13 and at least one positioning device 14.

The rail 11 is a thin, narrow, elongated m ember for supporting goods on a bearing board of a display rack (not shown). The movable upright support plate 12 is slidably coupled to and movable along the rail 11 to support goods on the rail 11. The spiral spring 13 is connected between the rail 11 and the movable upright support plate 12 to impart a pressure to the movable upright support plate 12 relative to the rail 11, moving the movable upright support plate 12 to the front end of the rail 11. The at least one positioning device 14 is provided at the bottom side of the rail 11 and adapted to affix the rail 11 to a bearing board of a display rack (not shown).

Further, the at least one positioning device 14 can be disk magnets embedded in the bottom side of the rail 11 (see FIG. 2). Alternatively, the at least one positioning device 14 can be a strip of rubber magnet or anti-skip material fixedly bonded to the bottom side of the rail 11 (see FIG 3). Furthers the rail 11 has two longitudinal flanges 111 protruded from the top wall and respectively longitudinally extending along the two opposite lateral sides to reduce friction between the rail 11 and the goods carried on the rail 11.

During application, the rail 11 can be positively positioned on a display rack's non-metal bearing board 20 by means of the strip of rubber magnet or anti-skip material of the at least one positioning device 14 as shown in FIG. 4; alternatively, the rail 11 can be positively positioned on a display rack's ferrite bearing board 20 by means of the disc magnets of the at least one positioning device 14 as shown in FIG. 5.

The support device 10 utilizes the rail 11 to support goods, the at least one movable upright support plate 12 to hold loaded goods on the rail 11 and the spiral spring 13 to pull the at least one movable upright support plate 12 toward the front end of the rail 11. Thus, when the first piece of goods is taken away from the display rack by a consumer, the at least one movable upright support plate 12 is automatically moved forwards by the spiral spring 13 to shift the rest goods to the front side for service. Further, two partition members 30 may be arranged on the display rack×s non-metal bearing board 20 and spaced from the support device 10 at two opposite lateral sides to keep displayed goods in a good order. Same positioning devices 14 may be used for the positioning of the partition members 30 may be arranged on the display rack's non-metal bearing board 20.

A prototype of support device has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 2˜5. The support device functions smoothly to provide all of the features disclosed earlier.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims. 

1. A support devices comprising: a rail being a thin, narrow, elongated member for supporting goods on a bearing board of a display rack; a movable upright support plate slidably coupled to and movable along said rail to support goods on said rail; a spiral spring connected between said rail and said movable upright support plate and adapted to impart a pressure that moves said movable upright support plate toward a front end of said rail; and at least one positioning device located on a bottom side of said rail for securing said rail to a bearing board of a display rack.
 2. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rail has two longitudinal flanges protruded from a top wall thereof and respectively longitudinally extending along two opposite lateral sides thereof to reduce friction between said rail and the goods carried on said rail.
 3. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one positioning device comprises a plurality of magnets embedded in a bottom side of said rail.
 4. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one positioning device comprises a strip of rubber magnet bonded to a bottom side of said rail.
 5. The support device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one positioning device comprises a strip of anti-skid material bonded to a bottom side of said rail.
 6. The support device as claimed in claim 1, which is used with two partition members on a bearing board of a display rack, said partition members being spaced from the support device at two opposite lateral sides, each said partition member having at least one positioning device provided at a bottom side thereof for positioning on the bearing board of the display rack. 